Guercino

Christ Appearing to St Teresa, c.1634, Oil on canvas, 298 x 202 cm, Musée Granet d’Aix-en-Provence; ©️ RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY

Honouring the Father

Commentary by Alysée Le Druillenec

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Honour your father by words and deed, that a blessing from him may come upon you. (Sirach 3:8)

Arms crossed over her chest, looking upwards, Teresa of Ávila kneels before the Christ who appears to her and points up to heaven.

Jesus’s gesture establishes a line along which our eye can travel—upwards to the dove representing the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 3:16) and then to God the Father. This line connects the three trinitarian persons, all of whom are looking at Teresa. A second line is the one established by Teresa’s raised eyes, which are focussed directly on the Father, and reciprocate his regard.

In her writings, Teresa draws an analogy between honouring the Father in heaven and observing the Fourth Commandment to honour one’s earthly parents (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; see Mark 10:19). If we ‘honour [our] father by words and deed’ (Sirach 3:8), then we will also be attentive to our heavenly Father and will ‘have respect for His honour’ (Dalton 1852: 129). In this way a devotee can come to understand herself as God’s child, a ‘partner and co-heir’ with Jesus (see Exodus 20:12; Proverbs 13:22a; Deuteronomy 21:16; Jeremiah 2:7a).

The interpenetration of the celestial and terrestrial spheres is revealed in the virtuous circle between the Trinity and the saintly intercessor. The in-between space in Guercino’s painting can be read as a metaphorical representation of the spiritual place into which we—with Teresa—are invited; a space in which one can ‘stand between this Father and this Son [and] necessarily find the Holy Spirit’ (Teresa, Dalton 1852: 129).

By representing her as a role model for the devotee who must ‘honour the Father’ Guercino’s painting may allude to Teresa’s writings about trinitarian participation (or inhabitation). Guercino depicts how the human soul and the Holy Trinity can become present to each other (Teresa, Sesé 1995: 89–93).

For Teresa, honouring one’s earthly father will result in honouring the Father who is in heaven. And if we honour the Father in heaven, then we ourselves become like his children and heirs, along with Jesus—caught up into an encounter with the Father and the Spirit through the Son.

Following the teaching of Matthew 6, Teresa thus invites the devotee into a prayer that ‘is a cry of trust, in faith, hope and love’ (Teresa, Dalton 1852: 129).

 

References

Alvarez, Tomás (ed.). 2008. Dictionnaire Sainte Thérèse d’Avila. Son temps, sa vie, son œuvre et la spiritualité carmélitaine (Paris: Cerf), pp. 355–60

Dalton, John (trans.). 1852. Teresa of Ávila: The Way of Perfection, and Conceptions of Divine Love (London: C. Dolman)

Dekoninck, Ralph. 2016. ‘The Mystical Experience—Between Personification and Incarnation: The Idea vitae Teresianae iconibus symbolicis expressa (Antwerp, Jacob Mesens: 1680s)’, in Personification. Embodying Meaning and Emotion, ed. by Walter Melion and Bart Ramakers (Leiden: Brill), pp. 186–207

Druillenec (Le), Alysée. 2021. ‘L’Inhabitation trinitaire chez Thérèse d’Avila, objet d’une théologie en histoire de l’art ?’, Perspective, 2: 151–58

Sesé, Bernard and Carmélites de Clamart (eds). 1995. Œuvres complètes, Thérèse d'Avila, Tome 4, Château intérieur 7, 1, 5–7 (Paris: Cerf), pp. 89–93

See full exhibition for Ecclesiasticus 3

Ecclesiasticus 3

Revised Standard Version

3Listen to me your father, O children;

and act accordingly, that you may be kept in safety.

2For the Lord honored the father above the children,

and he confirmed the right of the mother over her sons.

3Whoever honors his father atones for sins,

4and whoever glorifies his mother is like one who lays up treasure.

5Whoever honors his father will be gladdened by his own children,

and when he prays he will be heard.

6Whoever glorifies his father will have long life,

and whoever obeys the Lord will refresh his mother;

7he will serve his parents as his masters.

8Honor your father by word and deed,

that a blessing from him may come upon you.

9For a father’s blessing strengthens the houses of the children,

but a mother’s curse uproots their foundations.

10Do not glorify yourself by dishonoring your father,

for your father’s dishonor is no glory to you.

11For a man’s glory comes from honoring his father,

and it is a disgrace for children not to respect their mother.

12O son, help your father in his old age,

and do not grieve him as long as he lives;

13even if he is lacking in understanding, show forbearance;

in all your strength do not despise him.

14For kindness to a father will not be forgotten,

and against your sins it will be credited to you;

15in the day of your affliction it will be remembered in your favor;

as frost in fair weather, your sins will melt away.

16Whoever forsakes his father is like a blasphemer,

and whoever angers his mother is cursed by the Lord.

17My son, perform your tasks in meekness;

then you will be loved by those whom God accepts.

18The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself;

so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord.

20For great is the might of the Lord;

he is glorified by the humble.

21Seek not what is too difficult for you,

nor investigate what is beyond your power.

22Reflect upon what has been assigned to you,

for you do not need what is hidden.

23Do not meddle in what is beyond your tasks,

for matters too great for human understanding have been shown you.

24For their hasty judgment has led many astray,

and wrong opinion has caused their thoughts to slip.

26A stubborn mind will be afflicted at the end,

and whoever loves danger will perish by it.

27A stubborn mind will be burdened by troubles,

and the sinner will heap sin upon sin.

28The affliction of the proud has no healing,

for a plant of wickedness has taken root in him.

29The mind of the intelligent man will ponder a parable,

and an attentive ear is the wise man’s desire.

30Water extinguishes a blazing fire:

so almsgiving atones for sin.

31Whoever requites favors gives thought to the future;

at the moment of his falling he will find support.

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